Monday, September 15, 2014

Xbox Games On PC

The big rumor in the gaming world these days is that Microsoft is reportedly experimenting with a streaming service which could bring the latest console games to any computer. Basically, Microsoft is developing a technology that will stream all Xbox games to the PC.

Now as a PC player, you would think this is great news for me. After all, if Microsoft do this, this means all those Xbox exclusive games will now be available to me. If you think so however, you would be wrong.

On paper this may be good news for PC gamers, but if this rumor is true, then I foresee some big problems for Microsoft. First off is the fact that there's no disguising why Microsoft is doing this. The Xbox One consoles is currently being destroyed by Sony's PS4 and things are so bad that even the WiiU (created at much lower cost) is beating it in sales.

However the biggest problem is the fact that there's already a great streaming service available to PC gamers. Microsoft need to explain why we would want to use their service instead of the 200 pound gorilla know as STEAM. Valve's STEAM is by far the best streaming service right now with others like Origins and UPlay also there. Where would Microsoft figure among that?

Now playing console games on home computers is not a new idea. Microsoft already have the OnLive cloud gaming platform but there's a huge jump between that niche service and STEAM. Can Microsoft do it and become the STEAM-killer? Honestly, I doubt it.